Energy Resources
Energy Users
Car
Stove
Lights
People
Energy Resources
Coal
Gas
Wind
Solar
Vocabulary
Natural Resources- any material from or supplied to Earth that is useful
Ex: wood, air, water, oil, sun light
Nonrenewable Resources- a resource that is being used faster than it is being replaced
Ex: oil
Renewable Resources- a resource that is replaced as fast or faster than it is being used
Ex: water
Sustainable- a resource that can be maintained without damaging or running out
Ex: water
Fossil Fuels- nonrenewable sources of energy formed from dead stuff over millions of years
Ex: oil, coal, natural gas
Alternative Energy- renewable sources of energy
Ex: solar, wind, hydro
Hydrocarbon- a chemical compound of hydrogen and carbon; it is a natural source of energy found in
fossil fuels
Petroleum- crude or raw oil as it is found naturally in the ground
Geothermal- thermal energy harvested from the ground
Hydroelectric-electrical energy harvested from moving water
Solar- electrical or thermal energy harvested from the sun
Wind Power- electrical energy harvested from moving air (wind)
Biomass- thermal energy harvested from dead plant matter
Turbine- a fan blade that is used to power a generator
Generator- a device that uses mechanical energy to create electrical energy
Transformers- a device used to change electricity so that it can travel far distances or change to the right
value for a specific device.
Voltage- the electrical energy that is needed to move electricity through a wire
KWH- kilowatt hour, a big bundle of energy (3.6 million Joules)
Electric Grid- a system of wires and substations used to deliver electricity
Electricity
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Electricity is the most common type of energy used in developed nations
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The grid delivers electricity from the power company to homes and businesses
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In the home, electricity is accessed through wall outlets
o Transformers are used at the power plants to raise the voltage so that electricity can
travel long distances
o Transformers are used in the home to lower the voltage to the right value for each
device
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The two best benefits of electricity are:
o Easy to transport
o It can be made from many different sources of energy
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The downside of electricity is that 8-30% of its energy is lost when traveling
Vampire Load- electricity used by a device when it is off
Smart Strip- a power strip that can completely turn off the electricity to certain devices when a master
device is off
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The Power Plant Process
steps (natural gas, coal, oil, or
1. Collect the fuel
2. Burn the fuel
wood) is about 20-30% efficient
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3. Use the heat to change water into steam
6. The generator makes electricity
For every 100J of work you get
20-30J of electricity (70J is lost to
4. Use the steam to spin a turbine
5. The spinning turbine powers a generator
A power plant that uses all six
heat)
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Any power plant that uses LESS
steps is MORE efficient
(hydroelectric, solar, windmill )
The Law of Entropy
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All processes generate some heat
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No system can ever be 100% efficient
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The less steps in a process, the greater the efficiency; The more steps in a process, the lower
the efficiency
Energy Resources Part 2: Renewable Resources
Solar Energy
Solar Energy- delivered to the earth by sunlight
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Renewable because there is enough fuel in the sun to burn for another 4-5 billion years
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There are two ways to use solar energy
o
Passive solar- thermal heating that doesn’t require any work
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EX: heat coming in your windows
Active solar- when sunlight is collected and used to make electricity; this does take work
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EX: solar panels
How a solar panel works: sunlight hits the panel, sunlight pushes electrodes to make electricity
Fact: There is enough solar energy hitting the earth in one day to power the entire world for one eyar
Negatives: the COST $$$
Wind Power
Wind power- created by the uneven heating of the air by the sun
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Wind blows from high to low temperatures
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Renewable because the sun will continue to drive uneven heating
How windmills work: the wind blows and turns a turbine, the turbine powers a generator, the generator
makes electricity
Negative: the wind is very inconsistent, it can kill birds
Hydro Electric
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Water naturally flows downhill due to gravity
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The greater the drop in height, the greater the Kinetic Energy of the water
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Hydro is renewable because of the water cycle which is powered by the sun
How a Hydro Electric Plant works:
1. Fast moving water spins the turbines
2. Turbine powers the generator
3. Generator makes electricity
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Negatives to Hydro Electric:
o Fast moving water is not available in most locations
o Hazardous to fish (turbines blend fish who get too close)
Biomass
Biomass- dead plant matter
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Ex: corn stocks, manure, crops, compost piles, wood, garbage, landfill gas
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Biomass is renewable because plants continue to grow due to the sun and water cycle
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Biofuels are used in two main ways
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o
Burning them for heating purposes
o
To make ethanol gasoline from corn or sugar
Ethanol- a liquid fuel from biomass that can be substituted for gasoline (mainly comes from
corn)
o
Positive: reduces cost of fuel
o
Negative: does not contain as much energy as regular gasoline (a car running ethanol
will not go as far), corn used to make ethanol is not being used for food
Did you Know: Some countries get a lot of their energy from biomass. For example, Brazil grows sugar
cane. It is very cheap to grow this plant, and it is fairly easy to turn the sugar cane into
ethanol. As a result, about 50% of the fuel used in cars and trucks in Brazil is ethanol.
Geothermal
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The sun shines on the earth and warms up the ground
The ground releases the heat very slowly
As a result, the ground is a near constant 50° F year round
Geothermal is renewable because the sun continues to add heat to the ground
Geothermal systems exchange heat with the ground to provide both heating and air
conditioning to a house
8 feet= 50* F
8 feet= 50* F
Q
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Q
Problems with Geothermal: expensive to install ($8,000-$12,000), hard to put in on small
properties
Nuclear Fusion

Fusion- when two low mass atoms are smashed together so hard that they make one atom

When two atoms fuse together, a new atom is made and a lot of energy is released

H + H=He + energy (hydrogen + hydrogen= helium + energy)
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Fusion is renewable because there is a near endless supply of hydrogen on Earth

Downsides to Fusion: is not good enough to make a fusion power plant yet

E=mc2 (energy= mass lost x speed of light2)
Energy Resources Part 3: Human Impact on Resources
By the Numbers
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The world population is a little more than 7 billion people
The USA represents 5% of the world’s population
In the USA, couples average 2.03 children
The USA produces 21% of the goods and services for the world
The USA uses (consumes) 24% the world’s energy
The USA is responsible for 33% of the world’s pollution
China and India make up 37% of the world’s population
China and India use about 6% of the world’s energy
o They are currently trying to industrialize to catch up to USA standards today
o If this happens, we will not have enough resources to support the # of people on earth
Vocabulary
Smog- chemical fog that is produced when exhaust fumes mix with sunlight
Acid Rain- formed when sulfur dioxide from burning coal mixes with water vapor
Deforestation- the cutting down of forests (a.k.a clear cutting)
Pesticide- a substance designed to kill rodents and insects
Toxic- poisonous or deadly
Pollution- anything that makes a resource unclean or undesirable
Conserve- to prevent the waste or overuse of a resource
Recycling- the process of reformatting a material to be used again (Ex: plastics melted and reshaped
into another plastic product)
Greenhouse Effect- the natural trapping of heat with carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere
Global Warming- the process of increasing the average temperature of the earth
Global Warming
Global Warming- the process of increasing the average temperature of the earth
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Global Warming happens when Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is produced than the plants can convert it
back to Oxygen (O2)
o Producers of Carbon Dioxide: animals exhaling (breathing out more CO2), when more
fossil fuels are burned, burning biomass
o Reducers of Carbon Dioxide: anything that does photosynthesis (plants/trees, etc.)
Global warming becomes more likely when: when populations rise (breathing out more CO2),
when more fossil fuels are burned, and when plants and forests are cut down (plants take in
CO2, so reducing plants reduces how much CO2 is taken out of the air)
Global warming becomes less likely when: populations decrease, when less fossil fuels are
burned, and when new plants and trees are grown
Problems with Oil
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It takes millions of years for the Earth to make oil
Predicted oil resources will last until 2055
Burning oil releases chemicals that when mixed with sunlight create smog
o Smog is poisonous to people with long term exposure
o Smog causes headaches and makes it hard to breathe
Burning oil contributes to global warming (burning the oil releases CO2 into the atmosphere)
Problems with Coal
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It takes millions of years for the Earth to make coal
Predicted coal resources will last until 2300
Burning coal produces sulfur dioxide which when mixed with water creates acid rain
o Acid rain damages buildings, plants, fish, and metals
Burning coal contributes to global warming
Problems with Nuclear Fission
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Fission occurs when a high speed neutron collides with an unstable atom
o best fuel for fission is Uranium (it is unstable)
When the atom is split, it releases a lot of energy
Fission power plants produce the most amount of electricity and the process is very clean
The used fuel for fission is very toxic and takes thousands of years to become safe
o Waste is currently stored in concrete reinforced bunkers
Fission accidents are very rare but very dangerous when they happen
o Three Mile Island, USA 1979- did not melt down- near meltdown
o Chernobyl, Russia 1986- reactor blew up, complete meltdown
o Fukishima, Japan 2011- earthquake caused tsunami which slammed into reactor
building and generators went down and wiring for new generators was not correct so in
that time two reactors melted down
There is enough uranium resources to last until 2550
What can we do?
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The three R’s of conservation
o Reduce- to use less so that less resources are used * BEST*
o Reuse- to use again or find other uses for it * GREAT/ 2nd BEST*
o Recycle-to break down into parts and then reform it into different objects
*GOOD/3rd BEST*
Millerstown Recycling
o Need to buy a green recycling bag for $2.75
 Bonsols, Burns
o You can put in the bag
 Plastics 1 and 2
 Glass (any color)
 Cardboard
 Cans
 Newspaper/paper
o Deliver recycling bag to recycling dumpster in Millerstown Park
Energy Resources Part 4: The Earth
Water
Water Needs
Drinking (hydration)
Growing plants
Bathing
Cooking
Water Wants
Swimming Pools/Water Parks
Washing Cars
Long Showers
Watering Lawns (garden water features)
Where the Water is
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97% is salt water
2.4% is ice (icebergs/polar caps)
.3% is too deep under the ground to get to
.3% is accessible, drinkable, fresh water
UN Prediction: In 100 years, water
will be the most precious resources
on the planet
What Makes Water Look Blue?
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At a large angle near 90° water absorbs red, orange and yellow light, and reflects blue and green
light
At softer angles near 0° water is clear
Natural Cycles
Water Cycle1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
It rains
Water flows down hill on the ground due to gravity
The Sun evaporates the water
Wind moves the clouds around the earth
Evaporated water condenses and it eventually rains again
Oxygen/Carbon Dioxide CyclePhotosynthesis- plants on the land convert Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen
Respiration- animals breathe and convert oxygen into carbon dioxide
Combustion- the process of burning a fuel uses oxygen and produces Carbon Dioxide
Photosynthetic Algae- algae in the oceans do photosynthesis to produce oxygen
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Plants on the land produce 29% of the world’s oxygen
Algae in the ocean produce 71% of the world’s oxygen
Carbon Cycle
Birth- plants are sprouted from the ground and are mostly made of carbon
Consumers- plants consume carbon in the soil to grow,
animals eat plants to grow, animals eat animals to grow
Death- plant and animals die
Decomposers-Worms bugs and bacteria break down
dead stuff and return carbon to the ground
Nitrogen cycle
Waste- nitrogen rich plant residue(lose leaves, etc) and animal poop are deposited into the soil
Conversion- bacteria in the ground converts the nitrogen into fertilizer for plants
Consumption- plants use the fertilizer to grow and animals eat the plants (and poop)